Lake view: Music at lake venues does not need amplification

Outdoor music does not need to be amplified to make it louder in order for people to enjoy outdoor venues in Camden County.

Comment

By Barbara Fredholm

The Lake News Online

By Barbara Fredholm

Posted Apr. 24, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Updated Apr 24, 2013 at 12:29 PM

By Barbara Fredholm

Posted Apr. 24, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Updated Apr 24, 2013 at 12:29 PM

Camdenton

Outdoor music does not need to be amplified to make it louder in order for people to enjoy outdoor venues in Camden County.

Customers in boats can't hear it over the noise of their motors. Unamplified music can be heard well by customers dining in outdoor restaurants as they sit by the stage. There is no reason to make it ear spittingly loud. If loud speakers were banned, people could relax and talk to each other without the need to shout to be heard; visitors and residents located even miles away could live their lives without being subjected to this unwelcome disturbance.

And disturbance it is. Other areas have banned outdoor music completely requiring business owner to confine their particular choice of entertainment to indoor gathering places only, except by special permit for parades, festivals and so on.

In the late 1990s my family lived near Cross Creek in Camdenton. A restaurant with loud outdoor amplified music playing late into the evenings and all day on weekends, was located two hilltops and across a very large cove from our home. Music travels upward and extremely well across water. The "animal house" music was most irritating. The filthy, obscene, lewd, lyrics could be plainly heard. Along with other residents we reported this to the Camden County Sheriff and to the Missouri Water Patrol. The establishment was asked to "turn it down" but that did not last.

We have also lived near another outdoor music venue where, in addition to "animal house" music and filthy lyrics, we could hear sexually explicit language; not the sort of thing we would want visitors and children to hear, much less hear ourselves while trying to garden, relax outdoors or sleep with the windows open.

Banning outdoor amplification of music or even banning it completely is a reasonable solution to this problem. Please consider recommending to the Camden County Commissioners that this be done as soon as possible. People will no longer be forced, sometimes at great expense, to move to quieter areas. Visitors and residents will thank you and we could all enjoy the wonderful Lake of the Ozarks.